Another day, another Northern away day!
If you’d told me fifteen years ago that Cambridge would be playing Derby in a league game, I’d probably have invited you to go and conduct your affairs elsewhere. There’s no debate, Derby are a massive club and probably aren’t overly thrilled about playing little old Cambridge. That was certainly confirmed by Derby Fans after the game, who lacked a certain grace and friendliness possessed by Newcastle and Wigan fans. Anyway let’s get to it.
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The biggest ground in League 1
Pride Park is certainly an impressive stadium. The view was great, the pitch looked good and the stewards were making terrible jokes, even by my standards. We arrived early so took a stroll around the ground, where we found: |
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| A welcomed sight |
Sadly, the Greggs never opened. Therefore we went to the pub.. sort of….
The allocated away pub near the ground was a Harvester. Yep, a Harvester. We did try another nearby pub, but were denied. Harvester it is then.
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| Guinness in a plastic glass |
Heading inside the ground, it’s time for a pie review!
An improvement on Wigan’s effort. 5/10. With few options available, all steak was the best choice. Nice filling but another very dry crust.
The main event of the day, was that it was my 500th Cambridge game. 202 wins, 137 draws and 161 loses. Not a bad record!  |
| Me, Rach and John |
The game itself wasn’t a classic and both sides lacked a bit of quality in the final third. At times, we defended superbly. R.Bennett and Morrison were immense. A point at Derby is a brilliant result for us and a draw was probably fair in the end.
At the end of the game we headed to the first pub on our little pub tour.
My second visit to this pub. A classic interior with a vast amount of beers on. I had Black Sabbath, a strong dark ale. It was tasty but looked better conditioned than the beers my friends had. Perhaps too many beers on.
We then went to find food, in what turned out to be the most tedious shopping centre in existence. After eating we found that all of the exits, bar one, were closed. Staff were prowling around telling us that the centre was closed but not being overly helpful on how to exit. To get over this experience we went to the second pub on our list.
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| Any guesses pub fans? |
The Alexandra Hotel is an amazing pub. That’s the review. Ok, I’ll go on. It was my second visit here, after a rushed visit a few years ago. I love the decor and the train in the garden. The pub boasts an impressive ranges of beers, which were all in spectacular condition. I enjoyed Billy’s Best Bitter from Tollgate and Oatmeal Stout from one of my favourite breweries, Castle Rock. I could easily spend an evening just in this pub, but we had one more to visit.
The Exeter Arms was recommended to me by pub legend, Ali. This place did not disappoint. Possibly the friendliest welcome I’ve ever received! The beer selection was also great, with most coming from Dancing Duck brewery.
The Dancing Duck 22 was my beer of the day. It was one of the best bitters I’ve ever had. I enjoyed a few pints of it over the course of our visit. I also tried Indian Porter, also from Dancing Duck, which was also very nice.
Overall, it was a good time in Derby. An excellent point on the road for the U’s, followed by two excellent pubs. I’m torn as to whether I prefer The Alexandra or The Exeter Arms.
Quite a contrast between the excellence of the pubs near the station and the ones nearest the stadium then. What's your usual stop before matches at the Abbey ?
ReplyDeleteThere certainly is! I rarely drink before home games to be honest. It’s usually straight to Mill Road after the final whistle though! Or sometimes a walk along the river to Maypole.
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